Biophobia: search trends reveal a growing fear of nature

• “I can’t even watch a snake on TV without feeling sick to my stomach.”

  “Swimming?

• Forget about it… I’m too afraid of sharks!”

  “I can’t even be in the same room as a spider, it freaks me out.”
  “I can’t even watch a snake on TV without feeling sick to my stomach.” “Swimming?

• Indeed, fear of spiders (arachnophobia) or of snakes (ophidiophobia) are thought to be among the most common “biophobias”.

Drivers of contemporary fear of nature

• This is worrying because it can lead to excessive anxiety and avoidance of interactions with nature, preventing affected individuals from experiencing the many physical and mental benefits that nature can provide.
• Researchers interested in this phenomenon have therefore started to explore the reasons behind the sustained prevalence of nature phobias in modern societies.
• One hypothesis that has been put forward for this phenomenon points toward living in urbanised areas as a key driver of fear of nature in contemporary societies.
• Contemporary societies may suffer from a vicious cycle of biophobia, whereby nature disconnection leads to nature phobias and vice versa.

How prevalent are biophobias nowadays?

• Our study suggests the most common biophobias include fear of spiders, microbes and germs (mysophobia), and parasites (parasitophobia).
• We also found a steady increase in online search volume for biophobias between 2004 and 2022, albeit with marked differences in trends for specific phobias.
• Interest in the some of the most common biophobias, such as fear of snakes (ophidiophobia) or germs, is also increasing, which suggests they are becoming more prevalent.
• Other possible explanations for our results include aspects related to differences in Internet access between countries or the motivations behind Internet searches for biophobias.